Travel calendar: our tips for where to go in September

Chase the sun in LA, embrace autumn in the Cotswolds or school-up on sumo in Japan – here are the places for your radar this month

BY Amelia Mularz19 June 2018

September is traditionally all about heading back to school. But if your ‘school’ includes learning to surf in Malibu, exploring an ancient South American citadel or taking in a Japanese sumo tournament, then pack your bags kids, because we’ve got a full terms-worth of travel to jumpstart your autumn…

GO WITH THE FLOW

Early autumn is the ideal time to hit the beach in Los Angeles. Spring can come with overcast weather (May grey and June gloom are real), but by September, the skies have cleared and the sun’s out in full blast. The weather will also be on your side in Peru‘s Sacred Valley for an epic hike to the ancient Inca ruins at Machu Picchu, during the area’s dry season (April to September). Aim for the latter part and you’ll swerve student travellers during the peak summer months.

ESCAPE THE CROWDS

Cherry-blossom season in Japan gets a lot of hype, but you can still see plenty of blooms in September minus the masses. The higanbana flower (red-spider lily) blooms in early autumn and you can visit fields covered in the hot-pink petals just an hour outside Tokyo. This is also the month to catch sumo wrestling in the capital city, during one of the three annual tournaments that takes place in Tokyo (January, May and September). Over in the Cotswolds, there’s plenty of rolling countryside to see. By day, you can hit the hiking or mountain-biking trails, and by night, cosy up in a revivified coaching inn or noble manor.

WHAT’S HAPPENING?

Tennis fans take to New York City in late August and early September for the US Open. In Canada, film buffs descend on Toronto for the city’s prestigious film festival, too.

BOOK NOW FOR…

You’ve barely felt a chill in the air (or maybe not at all), but it’s time to make your Christmas and New Year’s plans. If you’ve got sun, surf and margaritas in mind, secure your dream suite in Los Cabos. If you’d rather ring in the new year in a regal riad, make plans for Marrakech. Of course, traditionalists will crave snow: in which case, a mountainside chalet in Switzerland maybe?